In the fog, Clean Energy fund supporters ask for ‘brighter’ future

Bria Baker stood on the steps of the Federal Building in downtown Eugene to support a measure she can’t vote on yet. 

Baker, 16, had never spoken at a rally before. Then she talked into a megaphone and addressed a small crowd gathered on a chilly Saturday, Oct. 31, to hear how climate change affects young people. Around them, air quality degraded from good to moderate on a foggy, windless afternoon — the kind of weather that often traps pollution in the southern Willamette Valley. 

“Most problems of inequality aren’t because of the planet,” said Baker, who then reflected on the effect people’s actions have on one another and the environment.

Baker was one of several speakers at the rally, where a recurring theme was that large corporations can buy their way out of climate crises while the public is left to live with them. Part of the local solution, speakers said, is Measure 20-388, the Eugene Clean Energy Fund.

The proposed ordinance imposes a 2% fee on large retailers earning more than $1 billion in gross profits annually in the United States and more than $500,000 in gross profits in Eugene.

“We haven’t had the money to build the infrastructure or systems to make sustainable living a reality,” said Angelica Garay, a freshman at University of Oregon, who grew up in southern Oregon. 

“As a youth, it’s hard to watch the rivers and lakes I enjoyed as a child disappear,” said Garay. “Issues like climate change and environmental decay cannot be kicked down the road any further. If it’s not us, then it’ll be our children, and the issue will only become worse as time progresses.”

They’ll learn the measure’s outcome soon, after voting ends Tuesday evening. Early support for the measure was strong: It qualified for the ballot with about 14,000 signatures, nearly 5,000 more than required. But an opposition campaign backed by industry groups and people worried about higher prices formed to fight it. 

Support and opposition for Measure 20-388 

The local coalition supporting Measure 20-388, registered as “Yes for Clean Energy Fund Eugene,” includes environmental groups such as Beyond Toxics, Breach Collective, Oregon Just Transition Alliance and Sierra Club of Oregon.

The campaign raised $590,508.72 as of Oct. 31. Contributions have come from labor union chapters including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; the Portland-based Northwest Health Foundation; and out-of-state groups including the Jane Fonda Climate Political Action Committee (PAC) and Accelerator for America Action. 

The local opposition campaign, registered as “Stop the Hidden Tax on Eugene,” includes the Eugene Chamber of Commerce, industry groups such as the Oregon Bankers Association, the Northwest Grocery Retail Association and Oregon Business and Industry. 

The campaign raised $155,110, as of Oct. 31. Contributions have come from the Eugene Chamber of Commerce’s political action committee, called LIFT Lane, the Oregon Bankers PAC, and Oregon Business & Industry’s (PAC). Amazon gave $25,000 to the Oregon Business & Industry’s political action committee, according to an Oct. 18 state campaign finance filing. 

In a Friday, Oct. 30, email to Lookout Eugene-Springfield, opposition spokesperson Laura Sedwick reiterated the primary concern she shared over the last several weeks: a struggling economy. 

Sedwick, a Eugene parent, previously worked for local Democratic politicians and spent about four years as the Eugene Chamber of Commerce’s director of business and advocacy. She now works in project management for a tech company.

As part of the campaign, Sedwick wrote what she calls a personal letter to residents and mailed it to homes in Eugene. The letter, dated Oct. 18, reads in part: 

“I know how good this measure sounds. It’s called the Clean Energy Fund, and supporters say it makes big corporations pay their fair share. I wanted to believe that, too. But I’ve spent most of my career reading plans and asking one question: Will this actually do what it says it will? I read this one, and it won’t.”

Like the opposition campaign at large, the letter argues the measure will raise consumer prices but without direct evidence from Portland, which has had a similar fund for years. 

The Portland Clean Energy Fund was enacted in 2019. Its revenue reached $1 billion by June of this year. 

“Whatever happens on Election Day, I hope this campaign has encouraged people to look more closely at how we fund clean energy initiatives, who ultimately bears the costs, and how we ensure those investments remain accountable to the public,” Sedwick said in the email to Lookout. 

Commissioner speaks on fund

At Saturday’s rally, Lane County Commissioner Laurie Trieger criticized the opposition and said the same groups used similar tactics when Eugene banned plastic grocery bags and passed paid sick leave protections. 

“Some of my advocacy work over the years has had me up against the same big business lobby that’s trying to block this measure,” Trieger said “They have consistently taken a stand against what’s good for workers and what’s good for our most marginalized communities and what’s best for our environment.” 

Trieger said since she became a commissioner in 2021, the county dealt with the ongoing effects of the COVID pandemic and the Holiday Farm Fire. Both required significant resources. 

“We have a federal administration that has clawed back funding that they had promised and reducing the support we need to continue to heal and recover and prepare for future disease outbreaks and weather events,” Trieger said.

“If the largest city within Lane County had a fund that would help grow our economy and build green infrastructure, our future would look so much brighter,” she said. 

As the speeches ended, about two dozen people took to the sidewalk and marched to the Lane County Elections Office. 

“Our future, our planet,” they chanted. Meanwhile, the air quality got worse.